Video

[Ed]

My wife and I are Gamers and usually whip our laptop into the old family room to put the game up on our big screen TV with surround sound. Now, we just got a new big screen (the old Sony 52" was getting sorta screwed up color wise, but after 13 years ....) that has component video inputs. Simple question: do video cards have such outputs? Do they even exist?

[Skeptoid]

Short answer: Yes.

My video card also has an S-video output.

[Andonyx]

Component Video outputs from a Computer video card are almost exclusively limited to high-end professional cards designed for video editing workstattions, and could cost you upwards of $1700.

However S-Video is nearly as good, with the exception that the S-cideo spec cannot handle progressive signals for video.

S-video is also much more common, and exists on standard reference boards for the GeForce 4200,4400, and 4600 series video cards, and higher as well as many of the ATI Radeon 8800, and 9800 series cards.

If you insist on component, then you probably want something like this as a converter:

http://www.pesa.com/VDAC3101.htm

Or you could go whole hog high end digital and audio crazy with this monster:

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdmsw8x3.asp

[gnome]

I have an s-video out for my card, the problem is I can't find an S-video cable long enough to reach my television across the room. Is there a problem with signal degredation, or might I find a 20+ foot S-video cable somewhere?

[Ed]

You can find them. I think I got mine at Radio Shack.

[Theodore Kurita]

I agree with Andonyx on this one.

If your laptop does not have an S-Video Port on it, get a VGA to S-Video converter.



Hey Ed, could you post some specs for your laptop?

[Ed]

dell latitude
384 meg ram
pentium III about 500meg
12 gig of hard drive ... sorta like that
s video out

Pretty vanilla

I was thinking of getting a gaming machine

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by Ed
My wife and I are Gamers and usually whip our laptop into the old family roomWow, a simple, jargon-free "my wife and I have sex" would have been sufficient.

[Theodore Kurita]

Originally posted by Ed
dell latitude
384 meg ram
pentium III about 500meg
12 gig of hard drive ... sorta like that
s video out

Pretty vanilla

I was thinking of getting a gaming machine

A gaming machine ehhh...

If you are going to go for a gaming laptop... check out Sager! They are much cheaper than Alienware, and the FPS are unbelievable.

The cheapest Sager Laptops can be found here:

www.pctorque.com


Now, if you are planning on getting a gaming desktop... BUILD YOUR OWN :p

[Ed]

Originally posted by RSLancastr
Wow, a simple, jargon-free "my wife and I have sex" would have been sufficient.

"laptop" and "family room" are code words. Reread with this new understanding:D

[Ed]

Originally posted by ((^-_-^))


A gaming machine ehhh...

If you are going to go for a gaming laptop... check out Sager! They are much cheaper than Alienware, and the FPS are unbelievable.

The cheapest Sager Laptops can be found here:

www.pctorque.com


Now, if you are planning on getting a gaming desktop... BUILD YOUR OWN :p

If we did it would be a dedicated desktop.

I looked into building my own a bit and it seemed that the costs vis a vis a Dell were not that attractive. You may think me a pussy, but access to Dell support is a plus for me too.:D

Don't take this to mean that I have a hard and fast position regarding buy vs. build, I don't really know enough. It just seemed, on the surface, that building had more liabilities than buying.

Also, my laptop can't handle the newer games: Neverwinter nights floats around like a turd in a punchbowl, Divine Divinity worked but only when the resolution was really reduced. Point is that this discussion will not be academic much longer.

TV comes today Woo-hoo:D

[Theodore Kurita]

Originally posted by Ed


If we did it would be a dedicated desktop.

I looked into building my own a bit and it seemed that the costs vis a vis a Dell were not that attractive. You may think me a pussy, but access to Dell support is a plus for me too.:D

Don't take this to mean that I have a hard and fast position regarding buy vs. build, I don't really know enough. It just seemed, on the surface, that building had more liabilities than buying.

Also, my laptop can't handle the newer games: Neverwinter nights floats around like a turd in a punchbowl, Divine Divinity worked but only when the resolution was really reduced. Point is that this discussion will not be academic much longer.

TV comes today Woo-hoo:D



Not really...

All you have to keep track of when you build your PC is all of the warranties for all the stuff in your PC.


If you build your own PC, have a binder, or a file that you can easily access.

Keep all receipts for the products you buy and all warranties in the binder or file.

And make sure you always have it handy in case you need to call the company, or companies, about deffective parts...

They usually replace them within a decent amount of time.